Data / Employer firm births / Kentucky

Employer firm births in Kentucky

Employer firm births in Kentucky was 4,803 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up 4.8% from 2022. That is the 30th highest of 51 states in 2023.

2023, count4,803
Change on 2022+4.8%
Rank30th of 51US states ranked
Series high7,1051984
Series low3,9182010
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Employer firm births in Kentucky, 1978 to 2023

3,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,00019781985199219992006201320231978: 6,511 count1979: 6,304 count1980: 5,361 count1981: 5,205 count1982: 5,406 count1983: 5,717 count1984: 7,105 count1985: 6,232 count1986: 6,389 count1987: 6,309 count1988: 6,119 count1989: 6,293 count1990: 6,223 count1991: 5,475 count1992: 5,576 count1993: 5,839 count1994: 5,770 count1995: 6,131 count1996: 5,813 count1997: 6,024 count1998: 5,798 count1999: 5,395 count2000: 5,144 count2001: 4,929 count2002: 4,938 count2003: 4,911 count2004: 5,352 count2005: 5,469 count2006: 5,429 count2007: 5,194 count2008: 4,717 count2009: 3,987 count2010: 3,918 count2011: 4,011 count2012: 3,993 count2013: 4,382 count2014: 4,714 count2015: 4,128 count2016: 4,260 count2017: 4,224 count2018: 4,027 count2019: 4,226 count2020: 3,963 count2021: 4,086 count2022: 4,584 count2023: 4,803 count3,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,00019781994201020231978: 6,511 count1979: 6,304 count1980: 5,361 count1981: 5,205 count1982: 5,406 count1983: 5,717 count1984: 7,105 count1985: 6,232 count1986: 6,389 count1987: 6,309 count1988: 6,119 count1989: 6,293 count1990: 6,223 count1991: 5,475 count1992: 5,576 count1993: 5,839 count1994: 5,770 count1995: 6,131 count1996: 5,813 count1997: 6,024 count1998: 5,798 count1999: 5,395 count2000: 5,144 count2001: 4,929 count2002: 4,938 count2003: 4,911 count2004: 5,352 count2005: 5,469 count2006: 5,429 count2007: 5,194 count2008: 4,717 count2009: 3,987 count2010: 3,918 count2011: 4,011 count2012: 3,993 count2013: 4,382 count2014: 4,714 count2015: 4,128 count2016: 4,260 count2017: 4,224 count2018: 4,027 count2019: 4,226 count2020: 3,963 count2021: 4,086 count2022: 4,584 count2023: 4,803 count
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved 2026-10-22, published 2025-09-25.
All 46 values
Periodcount
20234,803
20224,584
20214,086
20203,963
20194,226
20184,027
20174,224
20164,260
20154,128
20144,714
20134,382
20123,993
20114,011
20103,918
20093,987
20084,717
20075,194
20065,429
20055,469
20045,352
20034,911
20024,938
20014,929
20005,144
19995,395
19985,798
19976,024
19965,813
19956,131
19945,770
19935,839
19925,576
19915,475
19906,223
19896,293
19886,119
19876,309
19866,389
19856,232
19847,105
19835,717
19825,406
19815,205
19805,361
19796,304
19786,511

Compared with United States

Place2023
Kentucky4,803
United States508,777

Kentucky compared with nearby places

Alabama: 5,688 countAlaska: 1,222 countArizona: 11,411 countArkansas: 3,866 countCalifornia: 70,055 countColorado: 11,839 countConnecticut: 4,349 countDelaware: 2,248 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,129 countFlorida: 51,518 countGeorgia: 17,841 countHawaii: 1,736 countIdaho: 4,074 countIllinois: 16,056 countIndiana: 8,106 countIowa: 3,717 countKansas: 3,975 countKentucky: 4,803 countLouisiana: 5,480 countMaine: 2,288 countMaryland: 7,811 countMassachusetts: 9,985 countMichigan: 11,814 countMinnesota: 7,296 countMississippi: 3,132 countMissouri: 8,453 countMontana: 2,708 countNebraska: 2,871 countNevada: 5,829 countNew Hampshire: 2,040 countNew Jersey: 14,547 countNew Mexico: 2,617 countNew York: 33,208 countNorth Carolina: 16,322 countNorth Dakota: 1,287 countOhio: 11,994 countOklahoma: 5,463 countOregon: 7,399 countPennsylvania: 14,288 countRhode Island: 1,563 countSouth Carolina: 7,641 countSouth Dakota: 1,605 countTennessee: 8,740 countTexas: 47,108 countUtah: 7,199 countVermont: 1,068 countVirginia: 11,835 countWashington: 12,280 countWest Virginia: 1,532 countWisconsin: 6,856 countWyoming: 1,808 count
  • Under 1,900
  • 1,900 to 3,800
  • 3,800 to 5,800
  • 5,800 to 8,500
  • 8,500 to 14K
  • 14K and over
Employer firm births, 2023, count. Kentucky is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

Definition

New employer firms: firms of age zero in March of the year, meaning that every establishment of the firm had its first employees during the previous twelve months. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics, which calls these firms startups.

A firm counts only when it has employees, so a business without staff is not a birth, and a new branch, merger or change of ownership of an existing firm is not a birth either. Not the same as business_applications (requests for an employer number) or enterprise_births (European business demography). The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.

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How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978 (Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 22, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_employer_firm_births_kentucky_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-22},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Kentucky, 1978 to 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/kentucky.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the employer firm births in Kentucky?

Employer firm births in Kentucky was 4,803 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up 4.8% from 2022. That is the 30th highest of 51 states in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-22.

What was the highest employer firm births in Kentucky?

7,105 in 1984, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Employer firm births elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for Kentucky

All statistics for Kentucky | Kentucky in figures